DISPATCH FROM DALLAS | AFI Dallas Goes for the Robust and Finds a Niche in Year Two

Levinson told the audience that the cut had been only slightly altered since Sundance. “There are still things to finish on it,” he said, adding that it hadn’t landed a distributor yet because they feared that the general public wouldn’t comprehend the industry humor. “That’s the insider thinking,” he said. “That only they can understand it.” De Niro echoed the sentiment. “It’s a world that we know,” he said. “That was part of the fun of it.” Nevertheless, that conceit seems oddly ironic, because the subtle humor of “What Just Happened” as its jaded protagonist stumbles through various ill-fated, star-studded projects, features a surprising amount of universality. Despite an overly self-satisfied finish, the latest cut of “What Just Happened” displays genuine concern for the pressures of a commercially-driven lifestyle. 

Other festival successes that appeared here in slightly updated versions include “Triangle,” the Hong Kong action flick robustly directed by Chinese genre masters Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and Johnnie To, which has a delightfully weird slapstick finish regrettably preceded by an uninteresting trajectory, and Michael Addis’ documentary “Heckler,” wherein Jamie Kennedy confronts critics of his performances. Addis has kept his movie resolutely modern, as it now touches on Sean Young‘s recent heckling of Julian Schnabel, in addition to featuring a brief interview with her.

AFI Dallas senior programmer James Faust and programming coordinator Sarah Harris. Photo by Eric Kohn

Despite an incessantly hilarious first act, unfortunately, “Heckler” falters once it begins attacking film critics. Addis primarily singles out young, witless junketeer types as its main targets without distinguishing them from other members of the field. Its intentionally (and often obnoxiously) provocative approach will surely instigate debate when it comes out this summer. 

While “Heckler” landed a distribution deal months ago, the narrative entry “Disfigured” was bought by Cinema Libre just last week, following its Dallas screening. The touching and frequently entertaining story of an overweight woman (Deidra Edwards) and her bulimic friend (Stacy Lawrence), “Disfigured” speaks to a distinct crowd with a mixture of humor and intelligence, wavering only slightly when lesson-filled monologues take over near the end.

It’s a little strange that “Disfigured,” a tame, low-profile title, managed to secure the sole deal at AFI Dallas, while the magnificent Indian narrative “Amal”—a much-loved hit at several other festivals—still needs a buyer (although release plans have been secured in its native country and in the Middle East). A stunningly moving neorealist fable, “Amal” tracks the struggles of the titular rickshaw driver (Rupinder Nagra), a poor yet humbly satisfied man unwittingly awarded with a massive fortune. Thanks to a gut-punching finale that leaves audiences in perennial states of awe, “Amal” has amazing staying power. Twenty-nine year old director Richie Mehta doesn’t expect it to play great in India, where, he said, it’s an “automatic ‘high art’ film because there’s no singing.” But with the right American release, “Amal” could become an ideal awards movie (Mehta plans to submit it as Canada’s Best Foreign Film entry). 
The sensational documentary “Afghan Muscle” also looks like the kind of material to get co-opted for an American audience via an awards campaign if it weren’t just under an hour long, making a theatrical release highly unlikely. Shot on low grade video, “Afghan Muscle” contains an intensely revealing inspection of Afghanistan’s bodybuilding culture, focusing on the experiences of one competitor hoping to win the prestigious Mr. Asia title. Keenly paralleling the Middle Eastern nation’s weakened stature in the international landscape, “Afghan Muscle” is nonetheless destined for obscurity outside the festival bubble, but that’s the precise ingredient of independence that AFI Dallas should strive to maintain.

Meanwhile, the party environment works to its advantage: Dallas natives Polyphonic Spree played a characteristically lively set during the festival’s closing night party at the House of Blues on Saturday night. A dozen musicians sang in harmony, with an extensive lighting scheme forming a lavish spectacle. The first set climaxed with an encore as all the musicians returned to the stage in angelic robes and played an upbeat cover of Nirvana‘s “Lithium”—an appropriate choice, considering that Stuart Townsend‘s “Battle in Seattle” screened earlier in the evening. The band played on, forming a sound best labeled as robust. Finally coming to a close, the festival itself adhered to the same description. 

JURY AWARDS:

TARGET TEN NARRATIVE FEATURE: MERMAID
DIR: Anna Melikyan (Russia)
Cast: Mariya Shalayeva, Yevgeni Tsyganov, Mariya Sokova

HONORABLE MENTION: BAD HABITS
DIR: Simon Bross (Mexico)
Cast: Ximena Ayala, Elena de Haro, Marco Antonio Trevino

TARGET TEN DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: IRON LADIES OF LIBERIA
DIR: Daniel Junge (USA)

CURRENT ENERGY EARTH FRIENDLY: FIELDS OF FUEL
DIR: Josh Tickell (USA)

MPS STUDIOS TEXAS: COOK COUNTY
DIR: David Pomes (USA)
Cast: Anson Mount, Xander Berkeley, Ryan Donowho, Polly Cole

HONORABLE MENTION: CIAO
DIR: Yen Tan (USA)
Starring: Adam Neal Smith, Alessandro Calza, Ethel Lung

HDNET FEATURE: TRACING COWBOYS
DIR: Jason Wulfsohn (USA)
Starring: Eileen Dietz, Megan Edwards, Sacha Grunpeter

SHORT: THE SECOND LINE
DIR: John Magary (USA)

HONORABLE MENTION: A CATALOG OF ANTICIPATIONS
DIR: David Lowery (USA)

STUDENT SHORT: THE VULNERABLE ONES (LES VULNERABLES)
DIR: Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt (Congo/USA)

HONORABLE MENTION:  A DAY’S WORK
DIR: Rajeev Dassani (USA)

ANIMATED SHORT: KEY LIME PIE
DIR: Trevor Jimenez (Canada)

AUDIENCE AWARDS:

NARRATIVE: AMAL
DIR: Richie Mehta (Canada)
Cast: Rupinder Nagra, Naseeruddin Shah, Seema Biswas, Koel Purie

DOCUMENTARY: THE BLACK LIST
DIR: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (USA)
Featuring: Chris Rock, Lou Gossett Jr., Vernon Jordan, Thelma Golden

SHORT: A DAY’S WORK
DIR: Rajeev Dassani (USA)